Another Window Cleaning Fatality in Minneapolis

Window Washer Falls, Dies in St. Louis Park: One man is dead and another injured after falling several stories from a building in St. Louis Park Thursday afternoon. The city says the two men were washing the windows of Park Nicollet Methodist Hospital in the 6500 block of Excelsior Boulevard when they fell three stories around 3 p.m. One man was dead at the scene. The other victim was initially taken to Park Nicollet, before being transferred to Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis. He is in serious condition. "Two workers working for a private subcontractor who was hired to wash windows here...fell from a scaffolding," said Park Nicollet spokesperson Jeremiah Whitten. The city says they're unsure whether the men were wearing safety gear. The company the two men were working for did not want to issue a statement at this time. The names of both men have not been released.

The workers were sub-contractors hired by Methodist Hospital to clean windows. They were up three stories from the ground on scaffolding when they fell in front of the hospital's emergency center, Jeremiah Whitten, Park Nicollet director of media relations said. The St. Louis Park police and fire departments responded to a 911 call made by a bystander at the hospital, Whitten said. One of the window washers died at the scene, but the second was still conscious and was initially treated at Methodist Hospital. He was subsequently transported to Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, a level one trauma center. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner also arrived on the scene, as well as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), who is conducting an investigation. Upon request of the families, no further information is being released at this time.

Two window washers fall at Methodist Hospital - ST. LOUIS PARK, Minn. - One window washer died and another was seriously injured Thursday after falling at Methodist Hospital in St. Louis Park. Methodist Hospital spokesman Jeremiah Whitten said the two contracted workers fell three stories from their scaffolding at the hospital, located at 6500 Excelsior Blvd. Investigators and OSHA are at the scene of the accident, but the cause is not yet known. The injured window washer was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, where he was in serious condition Thursday evening.

Co-owner: Window cleaners had perfect safety record before fatal fall: The window-washing company whose two workers fell -- one of them to his death -- from three stories at Methodist Hospital in St. Louis Park had a spotless safety record, one of the co-owners said this morning.
"We've never had an incident," said Chris Bemis of Consider It Done Cleaning of New Hope, a company he started about 10 years ago when he was in high school. "Never had a claim on our general liability. We've never had a broken bone. We've never even had a broken window."

The men fell from scaffolding along the 40-foot-tall building about 3 p.m. One was dead by the time rescue personnel arrived. The other was alert and talking soon after the fall, then was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis. Bemis described the surviving worker as a "dear friend of mine" who has been in the business with him since start. Bemis declined to identify either worker, other than to describe them as in their 20s. Consider It Done has cleaned windows at Park Nicollet for about three years, Bemis said, and "nothing has ever, ever, ever happened." Bemis declined to speak about the circumstances surrounding the fall, citing the state investigation. In the meantime, he said, "the people at Park Nicollet are helping us try to find a way to help the families" of the two men.

"I don't know what to say until someone finishes their investigation," said Bemis, who added that the company helped him put himself and his wife through college at the University of Minnesota. "That's the boat we're in. We're trying to figure out what happen." A check of records by Minnesota OSHA this morning showed no violations for Consider It Done.